Bamiro sweating out Eagles' final decision

The Eagles still have a few big roster decisions to make after cutting a dozen players Friday.

And none are bigger than what to do with Michael Bamiro, the 6-8, 340-pound undrafted rookie offensive tackle out of Stony Brook.

When Bamiro is on, which tends to happen more at practices, he’s fascinating to watch. The 5XL gloves do a poor job covering the biggest hands on the team, hands that help him stop opponents in their tracks.

When Bamiro is struggling, as was the case in the last preseason game, he gets happy feet, is unable to anchor and looks awkward and out of place.

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“I’m a better player than that,” Bamiro said after allowing quarterback Nick Foles to take some hits in the Eagles’ 27-20 loss to the New York Jets. “I can only get better from situations like this.”

The Eagles are going to have to cut at least one and probably two more offensive lineman. Bamiro, undrafted rookie tackle Matt Tobin (6-6, 303) and guard Danny Watkins, a former first-round pick, are the likeliest guys on the bubble.

Watkins would be a big salary cap hit, as well as an admission the Eagles have difficulties evaluating and coaching draft prospects.

The Eagles might be able to stash Tobin on the practice squad.

Not so with Bamiro, who has the physical tools teams covet. If the Eagles cut Bamiro, who was paid on the scale of an undrafted priority free agent, those hated Giants would pick him up in a New York minute.

Eagles head coach Chip Kelly thinks Bamiro is raw with a lot of upside.

On a parallel note Kelly didn’t have to mention names when he spoke about how “shoddy” the Eagles’ pass protection was in the Jets game.

“It was a little different than I thought and I guess I wasn’t really prepared for what they we were doing. That’s my fault,” Bamiro said. “I should have been more confident in what I’m supposed to be doing.

“I just have to watch film. Just watch film and get better. I’m a better player than that. I can only get better from situations like this.”

The Eagles have decisions to make at safety, where Patrick Chung and rookie fifth-round pick Earl Wolff are guaranteed spots, leaving Nate Allen, Kurt Coleman and Colt Anderson on the outside looking in, as David Sims is almost certain to be cut.

The Eagles are unlikely to keep more than four safeties.

“I’ve gone through this process every year,” Coleman said. “And some years you feel real confident knowing that you’re the starter. And this year it’s kind of like my rookie year. You’re kind of there but you never know with the numbers game. It doesn’t always factor into it if you’re the best player. If they need certain numbers at a certain position, that’s how they have to go.”

The situation at cornerback is interesting in that the Eagles didn’t waive Curtis Marsh or Brandon Hughes, who both have a fractured hand. Marsh looks the part physically but plays like a liability. The next big play Hughes makes will be the first one anyone remembers.

Look for the Eagles, who are perilously weak at cornerback, to use their fourth overall claiming priority to at least try and get lucky finding cornerback help on the waiver wire. The need is so acute that Nnamdi Asomugha, axed by the Birds after last season, would be an immediate upgrade in this deep patrol.

Casey Matthews, the much maligned inside linebacker, could well be let go after the performance of Emmanuel Acho, who had 11 stops, including a sack and a forced fumble against the Jets.

“Making tackles is good,” Acho said. “As a linebacker it’s what they pay you to do. But on top of that you’ve got to make the big plays, the sacks, the forced fumbles. That’s what they’re looking for and that’s what I was trying to make.”

Acho, undrafted inside linebacker Jake Knott, who had eight stops, and outside linebacker Chris McCoy, who had two sacks against the Jets, look like they will stick around.

Among other Eagles cuts Friday, center-guard Dallas Reynolds started 13 games last season.

Linebacker Adrian Robinson (Temple) got one game to show his stuff before being waived. He’s a practice squad candidate along with quarterback Dennis Dixon, rookie wide receivers Ifeanyi Momah and Will Murphy, and linebacker Everette Brown.

The Eagles also placed defensive end Joe Kruger, one of their seventh-round picks, on injured reserve. Kruger developed a late shoulder injury.

Eagles cuts

LB Everette Brown

DT Antonio Dixon

QB Dennis Dixon

DE David King

QB G.J. Kinne

OL Matt Kopa

CB Trevard Lindley (waived with injury settlement)

WR Ifeanyi Momah

WR Will Murphy

OL Dallas Reynolds

LB Adrian Robinson

OL Matt Tennant

Roster stands at 62. Nine players must be waived, traded or put on injured reserve by 6 p.m. today.